Co-Founder Psychology (m/f/d)
You own what Joyful claims to do. Not as a reviewer, but as the person this part of the product belongs to.
A very small team with a very specific question
What we build
People usually notice that they reached for the phone, opened the fridge or cancelled the evening. Less often which feeling came first, and which need sits underneath. Joyful makes that chain visible and translates it into an action of two to five minutes — scaled to the energy that is actually available.
Where the line is
Joyful is a non-clinical wellness application and not a medical device. We do not diagnose, we do not treat, and we do not replace therapy. Keeping that line clean will be part of your job — not a sentence in the imprint.
Role details
What this is about
Joyful claims it can go from an observed behaviour to an emotion, from there to a need, and from there to a fitting small action. That chain is the core of the product — and it has to hold up, in wording that does not sound instructive in a difficult moment. That is exactly what we need you for.
The mechanisms we work from come from cognitive behavioural therapy and schema therapy. That is why it sits this high up in the ad.
What you would do
- Own the professional logic. Mapping emotions to needs, choosing the micro-interventions, the schema modes in the daily review, the language in the app.
- Build the content. Intervention library, psychoeducation, microcopy — short, warm, free of diagnostic vocabulary.
- Draw the line. You help decide what we deliberately do not do: no diagnostics, no crisis intervention on our own, but clear routes into real help. Feature requests have already been rejected for exactly this reason — that is the stance we are looking for.
- Review what the AI says. Parts of the app phrase things with a language model. You define what may come out of it, and read samples from the approval queue.
- Bring in the evidence. Sharpen the model of change, plan evaluation, write the specialist parts of funding applications and publications.
- Talk to professionals. Clinics, therapists, training institutes — wherever Joyful will later need to connect.
What you should bring
- Psychology as a student — ideally at master's level, bachelor's possible — or a completed degree. Both are equally welcome here.
- Serious engagement with behavioural therapy and schema therapy, beyond one lecture: further training, an internship, shadowing, a thesis, your own deep dive. Tell us where it comes from.
- You can translate technical language into everyday language without distorting it. That is the most frequent task here.
- German at native level — the app speaks German. English for the literature.
- An appetite for deciding rather than completing a defined task. And the willingness to overturn your own decision after a user test.
Nice, but not required
- Psychotherapy training started or planned
- Experience in an inpatient or day-clinic setting
- Exposure to digital health applications or health services research
- Academic writing, publications, grant applications
- Experience with interviews or usability testing
What we do not expect: that you can code, that you are a licensed practitioner, or that you have worked in a start-up before.
What we offer
- A whole half Not feature tickets from someone else's roadmap, but an area that is yours — with the right to say no.
- Equity, not just pay We are talking about real shares. Amount, vesting and salary we discuss openly in person — for us the two belong together.
- A clear frame 12 months, financed through the funding. Extending is the stated goal and depends on the next funding phase — we will always tell you where we stand.
- Remote from anywhere Asynchronous by default, core hours by arrangement. We are based in Wiesbaden — if you are nearby: all the better, but it is not required.
- A funding context, not a blind flight EXIST, BMWE and ESF Plus bring structure, a network and a link to academia.
- Short paths Few people, one decision. No committee that assesses your idea a quarter later.
Four things you should know beforehand
- This role hangs on an application. We submit the application for the next EXIST funding phase in September 2026; funding and the start of work are planned for January 2027. You will be named in the application as a team member, so the start depends on the funding decision. If you cannot carry that uncertainty, say so early — that is entirely fine.
- Twelve months means twelve months. Extending is our goal, but not a promise. In return we promise never to gloss over how the funding stands.
- There is no finished process. No HR department, no onboarding programme, no handbook. Some of it you will have to build yourself, because nobody has built it yet.
- The subject demands care. We accompany people in bad moments. Sometimes that means going slower, because a phrase does not sit right or a feature is not defensible. If you only optimise for speed, this is not the right fit.
How to apply
- Send us an email. The button below opens your mail client with the right subject line.
- No templated cover letter. Three paragraphs are enough: what you have done, why this subject interests you, and what you would change about Joyful first.
- Instead of a CV, something concrete: a concept, a thesis, a case vignette — anything you made yourself.
- Then 30 minutes on video and after that a small, real task from our backlog, around two hours. No unpaid megaproject, no assessment centre. You get an answer within a week — even if it is a no, and then with reasons.
hallo@joyfultherapie.de Subject: "Application: Co-Founder Psychology (m/f/d)"
We care what you can do and how you think — not about gender, origin, age, religion, disability or way of life. If you recognise yourself in this role but cannot tick every box: apply anyway, and tell us where you are unsure.
Rather talk first? Book 30 minutes. How we handle application materials and when we delete them is set out in the privacy policy.
Supported through
The "exist – from science to business" programme and its projects are funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the European Union via the European Social Fund Plus (ESF Plus).
Funded by:
based on a resolution of the German Bundestag
Funding period EXIST-Women: 01.05.2026–31.12.2026
